State gasoline tax to drop July 1

FILE - This Feb. 27, 2012, file photo shows gas prices at a Pittsburgh Exxon mini-mart. Exxon Mobil's fourth-quarter profit fell 16 percent as the company produced slightly less oil and gas and its refining business weakened, the company announced on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
The Associated Press

FILE - This Feb. 27, 2012, file photo shows gas prices at a Pittsburgh Exxon mini-mart. Exxon Mobil's fourth-quarter profit fell 16 percent as the company produced slightly less oil and gas and its refining business weakened, the company announced on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The state Board of Equalization voted 5-0 on Tuesday in Culver City to reduce the per-gallon excise tax on a gallon of regular gasoline to 36 cents per gallon, a 3.5 cent per gallon drop. The tax goes down July 1. The decision comes a year after the board voted to raise the tax by 3.5 cents per gallon. Still, Californians pay among the highest gas taxes in the nation, at about 68 cents per gallon through federal, state and local sales taxes.

“Today we have some good news for California taxpayers,” Board Vice Chair Michelle Steel said in a statement. “Because of our vote today, all Californians will benefit from a little less pain at the pump."

Each year since 2010, the public agency has been charged with setting the excise-tax rate based on a complicated formula called the "fuel-tax swap." Essentially, it looks at consumption and gas-price projections to determine how much tax revenue would have been gained under the previous system, which relied heavily on sales tax. The state switched to the system in the sluggish economy so it could move some of the funds from fixing roads to future appropriations.

State officials said this year's rate is going down due to projections of falling gas prices. While gas prices locally have ticked up in the last month, they are still down from a year ago. On Tuesday, a regular gallon of gas in San Diego cost $3.868 per gallon, down from $4.293 same time 2013.

The national average for gas taxes is 49.72 cents per gallon, the American Petroleum Institute reports.

The board must set the rate by March 1 so that it goes into effect July 1, the start of the fiscal year.